NHL Postponement: Islanders Will Not Play Canadiens On Monday

The New York Islanders matchup against the Montreal Canadiens scheduled for Monday, Dec. 20 has been postponed by the National Hockey League.

The @NHLPA and @NHL have agreed to continue the 2021-22 regular-season schedule, with details of that agreement outlined at the link below and in this thread.

Details: https://t.co/lEKv4lZovh pic.twitter.com/Qxf8XBE7ni

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 19, 2021

With the growing numbers of COVID-19 cases across the NHL, there is a major concern regarding cross-border travel. With the federal restrictions in place in Canada, all games involving Canadian teams scheduled to play U.S.-based teams from Monday, Dec. 20 to Thursday, Dec. 23 have been postponed.

The NHL plans to continue to play all remaining regular-season games as scheduled.

Despite whispers of a potential league-wide shutdown, the NHLPA, along with medical experts, have determined there is no need to go that route due to the number of vaccinated players across the league and the few cases of symptomatic personnel.

27 games have been postponed as of Saturday, with at least 12 more needing to be rescheduled from the postponements this upcoming week.

The NHL and the NHLPA will continue to monitor situations as they arise in order to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

Talks are ongoing about the participation of NHL players and coaches in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. A final decision regarding the NHL’s participation in the Olympics will be made in the next few days.